UPDATE: State campaign finance laws to get day in court

ABERDEEN – A non-jury trial is set to begin June 3 to consider Mississippi’s campaign finance laws.
U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock will preside over a 2011 lawsuit brought against Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and others by Lafayette County residents Gordon Vance Justice Jr., Sharon Bynum, Matthew Johnson, Alison Kinnaman and Stanley O’Dell.
Hosemann is the state’s chief elections officer.
In November 2011, the five wanted to publish ads about a ballot initiative and objected to mandatory state registration, which they termed burdensome.
Just days before the statewide election, Aycock denied their immediate motion to go around the law, which requires registration by any person or group making contributions or spending more than $200 total in a calendar year to influence voters.
They now press their questions about the law’s constitutionality.